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Ex-CIA Officer: Erdogan Meddles in Iraq, Syria to carve up land to Isolate Kurds PKK

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1031028687Former CIA counter-terrorism expert and whistleblower John Kiriakou claims that Erdogan wants to seize land from Iraq and Syria to cut off support and supplies from the Kurdish Workers Party in his own country.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to seize land from Iraq and Syria to cut off support and supplies from the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) in his own country, former CIA counter-terrorism expert and whistleblower John Kiriakou told Sputnik.

“I believe Erdogan seeks to carve out a ‘Kurdish-free zone’ in northern Iraq and northern Syria to keep Iraqi and Syrian Kurds from supplying PKK supporters on the Turkish side of the border,” Kiriakou said.

The PKK waged two long, violent and unsuccessful struggles for independence against Turkey in which 5,000 Turkish troops and more than 40,000 Kurds were killed from 1984 to 1999 and from 2004 to 2012. A third insurgency started earlier this year.

The pattern of Turkish aggression against Syria over the past month fitted this interpretation of Erdogan’s motives, Kiriakou maintained.

“As proof, we have Turkish actions in Syria in the past few weeks. As soon as Erdogan agreed to support allied military efforts in Syria, he began bombing Kurdish positions along the border. He didn’t bomb the Islamic State, but bombed the Kurds,” Kiriakou observed.

Erdogan had conflicting aims from the United States and its Coalition partners who want to contain and roll back the Islamic State (ISIL also known as Daesh), Kiriakou pointed out.

“Erdogan’s goals are thus different from the allies. But he was politically savvy enough to use the allies to further his own agenda,” he explained.

Kiriakou also said he did not believe Erdogan and his country had the resources to hold on to Iraqi or Syrian territory for any length of time in any effort to reclaim land that Turkey had to abandon when the Ottoman Empire collapsed at the end of World War I.

“I don’t think Erdogan has the wherewithal to create a new Ottoman Empire-like presence in the Middle East, nor to occupy Iraqi or Syrian territory over the long-term. I think his goals are more parochial,” he noted.

Kiriakou, an expert on Middle East terrorism, was jailed for two years for passing information to a reporter while a CIA officer. He now serves as an Associate Fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies.

Turkey playing another game moving Tanks to BARZANI backyard KRG

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DHA Photo

A number of Turkish troops stationed at Bashiqa Camp near Mosul on Dec. 14 were transferred to a region under the control of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq, Turkish sources told Hürriyet Daily News.

The troops left the camp on Dec. 14, and will not return to Turkey at the moment, according to sources.

The decision came after the international community put pressure on Ankara over Baghdad’s harsh reaction to the deployment of Turkish soldiers in the camp.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said necessary steps have been taken for “new arragement” of troops, adding that presence would continue for military training.

“We are ready for any kind of cooperation,” Davutoğlu said.

Iraq appealed to the United Nations Security Council on Dec. 11 to demand an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all Turkish troops from northern Iraq, calling Turkey’s military incursion a “flagrant violation” of international law.

“We call on the Security Council to demand that Turkey withdraw its forces immediately… and not to violate Iraqi sovereignty again,” Iraqi Ambassador Mohamed Ali Alhakim said in a letter to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, president of the Security Council, this month.

“This is considered a flagrant violation of the principles of the U.N. Charter, and a violation of Iraqi territorial integrity and sovereignty of the state of Iraq,” the letter said, according to an unofficial translation of the Arabic original.

Some Turkish troops deployed in northern Iraq are leaving the Bashiqa camp, heading north to a yet unknown destination as part of a “new arrangement,” a military source says.

The source told Reuters on Monday that the Turkish forces were leaving the camp, close to the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, which is controlled by Daesh terrorist group.

Baghdad had strongly criticized the Turkish incursion. Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said on Sunday that Baghdad had submitted a formal complaint to the UN Security Council (UNSC) regarding Turkey’s military moves in northern Iraq.

It is not yet clear whether the troops were moving within Iraq or heading back to Turkey.

On Friday, following talks with Iraqi officials, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s office announced in a statement Ankara’s decision to “reorganize” its military personnel at the Bashiqa camp.

“Taking into account the Iraqi government’s sensitivity, the decision was taken to reorganize the military personnel in the protection force at the Bashiqa camp,” Davutoglu’s office said.

Tensions have been running high between Baghdad and Ankara since December 4, when Turkey deployed some 150 soldiers, equipped with heavy weapons and backed by 20 to 25 tanks, to the outskirts of Mosul, the capital of Iraq’s Nineveh Province.

Over the past few days, thousands of Iraqi protesters have staged demonstrations across the country to denounce the Turkish deployment of military forces. On December 11, Iraq’s top Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani also called on the government to show “no tolerance” toward any party that violates the country’s sovereignty.

Ankara claims that its troops have been deployed to northern Iraq to train Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters against the Daesh terrorist group, and that the move was in line with previous agreements with Baghdad. The Iraqi government, however, denies any such deal.

December/14/2015

Residents of Iraq’s Babylon demand boycotting Turkish goods

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boycoott turkeyResidents of Iraq’s central Babylon province today took to the streets demanding to launch a boycott of Turkish goods as a sign of protest against the deployment of the Turkish troops in Iraq.

The protest participants gathered in the city of Hillah, capital of Babylon province, demanding to ban the sale of Turkish goods, as well as boycott the flights of the “Turkish Airlines,” RIA Novosti reports.

Besides, a demonstration against the deployment of the Turkish troops in Iraq was held in Baghdad.

Thousands Protest in Baghdad Against Terrorist State of Turkey Deployment of Turkish Troops to Iraq

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1031655818Thousands of protesters, including  members of Iraq’s Shiite paramilitary forces, gathered in downtown Baghdad on Saturday demanding the pullout of Turkish troops from the country, local TV Alsumaria reported.

Turkey sent troops and tanks to a base in northern Iraq last week  setting off an angry diplomatic row with Baghdad.

Ankara insists it deployed forces near Mosul to protect military instructors working with Iraqi soldiers at the base, but Baghdad demands their immediate withdrawal and brought the matter before the UN Security Council.

Saturday’s protest rally in Baghdad was initiated by paramilitary groups of the Hashad al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilization Forces, dominated by Iran-backed Shiite militias.

“As the leader of a military brigade, I am not fully satisfied with the government’s action, and we are here to say that Iraq’s patience has run out,” Ali Rubaie, the commander of a unit  stationed west of Baghdad, told AFP on Saturday.

The demonstration was mostly attended by young men in military uniforms and was well organized, with large processions converging on Tahrir Square in central Baghdad.

Terrorist State of Turkey Erdogan criticizes Iraqi plea to UNSC over Turkish invasion

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12363156_10153788259578633_3650050056246262912_oTurkey will not withdraw troops from an Iraqi camp close to the northern ISIS-controlled city of Mosul, said President Tayyip Erdogan, condemning Iraq’s appeal to the UN Security Council about Turkish forces’ presence, which deemed it to be “not honest.”

“They can resort to the UN Security Council, that is their natural right, but this is not an honest step and we believe that Iraq’s actions are related to the latest developments in the region, that is, the steps taken by Russia and Iran,” Erdogan said in an interview with Al Jazeera.

“I believe that the Security Council at the United Nations knows that this step is not honest and will issue its decision accordingly,” he added.

On Friday Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi instructed the foreign ministry to launch a formal complaint at the UNSC over an incursion nade by Turkish troops last week. The presence of Turkish troops in Iraq was a “blatant breach of the UN charter” and was not authorized by Iraqi authorities, Abadi once again reiterated in his statement.

“We demand the UN Security Council takes responsibility … to order Turkey to immediately withdraw its troops,” a statement by Abadi’s office said.

Taking to Twitter, the Iraqi Prime Minister reiterated that Turkey’s actions constitute a “flagrant violation of sovereignty.” At the same time, Abadi said that it is the “constitutional and national duty to protect the country and defend its security and sovereignty and territorial integrity.” The PM promised to take “all measures” and resort to “all legitimate means” to protect Iraq.

https://www.facebook.com/Haider-Al-Abadi-204803838632/?fref=nf

ان ارسال قوات مدرعة تركية من دون موافقة الحكومة العراقية لا يعتبر مساعدة ضد الارهاب بل هو انتهاك صارخ للسيادة العراقية، وليس على الاراضي العراقية اليوم قوات عسكرية مدرعة لأية دولة عدا تركيا ومن دون موافقتنا ولا علمنا، وكل مايقال خلاف ذلك محض افتراء

Earlier in the day Erdogan once again said he will not withdraw his troops, blaming Iraq for not taking the proper steps to protect its neighbor against the terrorist threat from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).

“Because Iraq is a place where terrorist organizations are running wild, especially Daesh [IS] … these terrorist organizations are a threat element for Turkey,” Erdogan said early Friday morning as he left on a visit to Turkmenistan

If the Iraqi central government does not take the necessary measures against possible threats to Turkey, we have to do it ourselves,” he added, reported Turkey’s Anadolu Agency.

The Turkish leader maintains that the Turkish presence was established at the end of 2014 for a training mission at the request of the Iraqi prime minister.

“Now it has been approximately a year-and-a half since the establishment of the Bashiqa camp. One would ask: where were you a year-and-a-half ago?” Erdogan asked.

Baghdad however keeps on reminding Ankara daily that the latest deployment of some 150 soldiers and a few dozen tanks was done without the permission or consent of from Iraq. Iraqi MPs told RT that Erdogan’s justification of the deployment is an “absolute lie” as it comes in an area where no Iraqi troops are present.

Iraq has also repeated that it wants to resolve the tension peacefully through negotiations and diplomatic means. On Thursday the Iraqi capital welcomed a Turkish delegation, including its head of intelligence Hakan Fidan.

“The Turkish delegation was told that the only way to resolve the crisis is the full withdrawal of Turkish troops from Iraqi territory, and this will open the way for positive relation[s],” Thursday’s statement from the Iraqi PM said.

The results from that meeting were reported to Erdogan and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

“Taking into account the Iraqi government’s sensitivity, the decision was taken to reorganise the military personnel in the protection force at the Bashiqa camp,” Davutoglu’s office said in a statement.

After considering the Iraqi offer, Erdogan refused to withdraw his forces

“At the moment retreating our troops is out of question. […] [It] is not about keeping combat troops but a backup to protect our officers providing training there. All the numbers that have been released [regarding Turkish troops] are extreme. These numbers do not have any relation, close or far, with the number of soldiers we deployed,” Erdogan said Friday.

IRAQ-TURKEY The highest Shiite authority condemns the deployment of Turkish troops

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arton119726-480x264Baghdad, December 11, 2015 (AFP) – The highest Shiite authority in Iraq, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, on Friday condemned the deployment of Turkish troops in the north of the country without the Baghdad agreement, which poisons a folder from a week relations between the two states.

No country should “send his soldiers on the territory of another State under the pretext of help against terrorism without reaching an agreement (…) between the governments of both countries”, said, on behalf of Ayatollah Sistani, one of his representatives during Friday prayers. Turkey has made it a week ago several hundred soldiers and tanks to a camp in Bachiqa, near Mosul city controlled since June 2014 by the Islamic State Group (EI).

Turkish military will train for several months of the troops of the regional government of Iraqi Kurdistan (peshmerga) and Iraqi volunteers eager to fight the IE. Baghdad has demanded the withdrawal of these new troops and now seeks a condemnation from the United Nations Security Council but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that withdrawal was “out of question”.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu defended this deployment as “an act of solidarity,” adding: “When the threats (of training camp) increase, we send troops to protect the camp.” “What they (the Turkish troops) are to Bachiqa and this camp is just training,” assured Erdogan Thursday evening news conference. “The number of our troops will be increased or reduced depending on the number of peshmerga + + they cause.”

Senior Iraqi officials reiterated their request for withdrawal Thursday during talks with a Turkish delegation, according to official statements. On Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has promised to “address the concerns of the Baghdad government” on this issue.

Erdogan for his part stated that the subject would be the subject of a meeting on December 21 between Turkey, the US and the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Friday, December 11, 2015,
Ara © armenews.com

Iraqis Fear US Backs Turkish Land Grab in Mosul Region

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1015960344Iraqi parliamentarians worry the US government has given Turkey a free hand to grab territory in the country’s oil-rich Mosul region, experts told Sputnik.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Iraqi Parliament’s Security and Defense Committee recently called on Prime Minister Haider Abadi to reassess and, if necessary, cancel the country’s security treaty with the United States following Turkish occupation of Iraqi territory near Mosul.

“My impression is that the Iraqi government has observed that the Russians are more effective in combatting ISIS [Islamic State] than the United States,” University of Louvain Professor Jean Bricmont in Belgium, author of “Humanitarian Imperialism,” told Sputnik.

Iraqi politicians recognize that Turkey continues to be favored by Washington as a major military ally in the Middle East, and Ankara also remains a member in good standing of the US-led NATO alliance despite its aggression toward Iraq, Bricmont pointed out.

“The Iraqis can see that NATO is supporting Turkey, and the latter is invading part of Iraq. Certainly this cannot happen without US approval.”

Genuine concern about Washington’s long-term policies toward Iraq was growing among policymakers in Baghdad and the parliamentary committee’s statement was an expression of this, Bricmont explained.

“I don’t know what is going on in the minds of the members of the Iraqi government, but I don’t see why that would only be pure posturing.”

However, the United States would allow Iraqi Prime Minister Abadi to escape from his security obligations to Washington, University of Illinois Professor of International Law Francis Boyle told Sputnik.

“Abadi is a US puppet. Obama put him in power and keeps him in power. Nothing more than the Mayor of Baghdad,” Boyle said.

Bricmont added that Turkey’s and Saudi Arabia’s support for the Islamic State, also known as Daesh, and the continued US support for Ankara and Riyadh was driving all forces in the Middle East to look to Russia for protection.

“Turkey’s support for the Islamic State and the recent events in the region are a game changer, since all the forces that are opposed to ISIS — Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon — see that their only real ally is Russia.”

The Iraq-US Strategic Framework Agreement of 2008 contains a provision that allows either party to terminate it at one year’s notice.

Source: sputniknews.com

Iraq: Kurds Protest Erdogan’s Invasion, Bombings of Iraq

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1031418124Kurds in Iraq protested Turkey’s invasion of Iraq, which is a threat to both the independence of Iraq and the Kurds living in the northern part of the country.

Although Turkey found a friend in Iraqi Kurdistan’s most dominant clan leader and current president Massoud Barzani, many Iraqi Kurds have opposed the measure.

On Wednesday, Turkish jets bombed Iraq, hitting the mountainous Qandil region, on the border with Iran, AP reported. According to Turkey, the mountains are home to camps of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, banned in Turkey.

“Yesterday, in multiple provinces of Iraqi Kurdistan there were popular manifestations, which local politicians also took part in. The protest expressed a harsh condemnation of the invasion and quartering of Turkish troops on the territory of a foreign state,” head of Kurdish News Network (KNN) Sohayeb Ahmad Kakeh Mahmoud told Sputnik Persian.

Mahmoud added that protesters chanted nationalist slogans, expressing their disapproval of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s silence in regards to the Turkish military’s actions. At the same time, Barzani left Iraqi to hold talks with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.

Syrian Kurds also reportedly condemned Erdogan’s actions.

“[Democratic Union Party head Salih Muslim] emphasized that Turkey is violating the territorial integrity of another state. Muslim also made an important statement: Turkey, which is ready to defend its territorial integrity at all costs, even shooting down Russian planes on its border for so-called airspace violations, yet itself invades an independent state,” Mahmoud added.

Is Iran Next on Erdogan’s Hit List?

Turkey has also continued to attack Kurdistan Workers’ Party positions in the Qandil Mountains, which border Iran.

“Despite the Turkish air force now attacking Qandil, the mountainous region bordering Iran, I still believe that Ankara is not ready to open yet another front by starting a war with Iran,” Mahmoud said.

Turkey has also managed to turn nearly all of its friends in the region into enemies, as Iranian Ettelaat newspaper Abulkasem Kasemzade recently noted, breaking the relationships he once had with Russia, Syria and Iran.

“Turkey has now simply surrounded itself with a circle of confrontation. On one hand, there is cooled Russia, from another, scrapes associated with the exposure of its collaboration with Daesh terrorists, lastly the simply insufficiently considered military operation against Kurds,” Mahmoud added.

According to Mahmoud, Syria and Iraq must cooperate to drive Turkish troops out of Iraq, as the invasion, and Turkey’s attacks on Kurdish groups in the region, is dangerous for Kurds living in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Source:sputniknews.com

Terrorist State of Turkey Urges All Citizens to Leave Iraq Immediately

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turkish embassy in BaghdadCiting security risks, the Turkish government has warned any of its citizens traveling in Iraq

On Wednesday, Turkey’s foreign ministry issued a statement calling for any citizens in Iraq to leave immediately.

“We strongly advise those whose stay is not essential to leave those provinces as soon as possible,” the statements reads. “The scope of our travel warning to Iraq has expanded to include all provinces. 

The foreign ministry cites increased security risks, such as threats targeting Turkish businesses, as well as concerns over violence, abduction, and other attacks.

In addition, the statement warns any Turkish citizens currently residing in the Iraqi Kurdish region to avoid any area where anti-terror operations are being carried out against Daesh, also known as ISIL/the Islamic State.

The statement comes amid rising tensions between Ankara and Baghdad. Last week, hundreds of Turkish troops and artillery units entered northern Iraq. Viewing the incident as a breach of sovereignty, the Iraqi government gave Turkey 48 hours to remove the military units.

“The Iraqi government confirms its firm and categorical rejection of any action of this kind issued by any country and violates our national sovereignty and we will treat any foreign ground combat troops sent by any country as a hostile act and deal with it on that basis,” reads a statement on Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s website.

Baghdad has said it will file a complaint with the United Nations Security Council over the matter.

“Many states are really upset with Ankara and that could well show up in a UN discussion,” Daniel Pipes, president of the Middle East Forum, told Sputnik.

“Nominally the NATO allies of Turkey have supported it in the confrontation with the Russian air force, but in fact there’s a lot of grumbling; no one is happy about this confrontation.”

Iraq: Shia Forces Threaten Turkey Over ‘Incursion’ Into Iraq

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1030557074Shia militias with ties to Iran on Wednesday threatened to attack Turkish forces deployed to Iraqi territory unless Ankara withdraws its troops from the region.

Last week, Turkey deployed troops to a camp in Mosul in northern Iraq. Baghdad condemned the move as a violation of sovereignty and asked NATO to intervene. It also set a 48-hour deadline to withdraw, which has since expired.

Now, the threat by Shia militias adds to the mounting pressure on Turkey, which says the forces are there to train Iraqi troops battling Daesh, also known as ISIL/The Islamic State.

Karim al-Nuri, a spokesman for the Badr Brigade, the largest coalition of Shia militias, likened the Turkish incursion with the occupation of Iraq by Daesh militants and said “all options” were available.

“We have the right to respond and we do not exclude any type of response until the Turks have learned their lesson,” Nuri said. “Do they have a dream of restoring Ottoman greatness? This is a great delusion and they will pay dearly because of Turkish arrogance.”

Turkey on Tuesday said it will not withdraw its soldiers, but it also would not send anymore. Baghdad said it never invited the forces in the first place.

Iraqi parliament members on Wednesday unanimously approved a motion to support the government in taking whatever measures against the incursion it viewed as appropriate.

Several MPs suggested Iraq could wage “economic war” on Turkey, but Jafaar Hussaini, a spokesman for one of the Shia armed groups, Kata’ib Hezbollah, said violence was likely, Reuters reported.

“We say that they military option is still probable and we might reach a stage in the next few days where we start carrying out operations against the Turks, be it against their soldiers or Turkish interests in Iraq.”

Source: sputniknews.com